Re: Re: Re: Epidemic mass sales


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Posted by Rick Denney on June 06, 2002 at 08:44:17:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Epidemic mass sales posted by Just curious on June 06, 2002 at 02:17:10:

That is the nature of expensive items being sold to underpaid professionals in a very small market. The best instruments will get sold, but it takes a while to make the connection to the right buyer at the time with the buyer has the opportunity to buy.

Of course, the tuba market is driven by amateurs and aspiring pros, both of whom are subject to changing priorities, so some volatility is to be expected.

To sell something quickly, you have to lower the price to the point where the opportunity cannot be missed. The $500 20J that I bought is in that category--it was down in the impulse range for me. If you want a high price, you can often get it if it is not too high--it just takes the willingness to wait for the confluence of several factors: Buyer availability, buyer opportunity, and lack of competition. Those planets line up more less and less often the higher up the price scale you go, and the farther you get from amateurs and students.

One reason people ask sellers to identify their motives is that a motivated seller will be more willing to negotiate. If someone is reluctantly selling a horn they prize because their practice room is crowded and they prize other horns a bit more, they can afford to wait for just the right buyer, who will eventually come along if their price is at least reasonable. If they are selling a horn because their kids are hungry, the price will drop rapidly and someone will fetch it because the deal is too good to pass up.

It seems to me that many of the most valuable horns are sold to a hand-picked buyer by a savvy seller. You don't see David Fedderly blowing out the several Rusk-converted Yorks he has sold over the last year or so.

Rick "who thinks that the best houses are sold before the real-estate agent lists them" Denney


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